December 2016 | Business View Magazine

64 65 NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS Natick, Massachusetts A green community Fifteen miles west of Boston, Natick, Massachusetts is a town of about 38,000 that was first settled back in 1651 and incorporated in 1781. Many of its early residents –both its English settlers and Native Americans, alike –par- ticipated in the Battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, and served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Primarily a farming town, in the 1800s, Natick became known as a center of shoe manufacturing; by century’s end it had twenty-three operating factories, and was third in the nation in the quantity of shoes produced. Natick also had the first plant in the world for the manufacture of baseballs. And for over a hundred years, on every Patri- ots Day, it has served as miles eight through twelve of the Boston Marathon. Today, not only is modern Natick one of the fastest-growing towns in the greater Boston area, it may also be one of the most environmentally progressive. Natick’s Director of Public Works is Jeremy Marsette. His department is responsible for the administration of the town’s municipal waste-water and drinking water, sanitation collection, municipal energy, vehicle and equipment maintenance, roadways and sidewalks, stormwater drainage, engineer- ing, geographic information system, common areas, parks, and public trees. Recycling programs are also managed by the Department of Public Works – and there are many of them. “Unlike many communities in the Commonwealth, our municipality collects solid waste and single-stream recycling at the curbside for all residents,” Marsette says,“and that has drastically reduced the amount of solid waste generated in the town. The combination of a ‘Pay as You Throw’ system for curbside solid waste collection and the single-stream recycling has really helped increase our recycling rate over the years, which is about at 30 percent. And that’s something that we want to continue to improve upon.” The town also has initiated a two-year a pilot program for the curbside collection of organic food waste.“We received grant funding through the Commonwealth to initiate the pilot program, and we have about 500 house- AT A GLANCE | Natick, Massachusetts WHAT: A town of 38,000 WHERE: Eastern Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston website: www.natickma.gov